


Seeds of change

by Entomancy



Series: Gods and Monsters [2]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: FTB, Gen, Sjin's farm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-05
Updated: 2013-08-05
Packaged: 2017-12-22 13:08:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/913571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Entomancy/pseuds/Entomancy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sjin is not the only person with interest in the newest resident of the area.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seeds of change

The pumpkins were growing well. Nano leaned back on the low fence that surrounded her carefully-ploughed rows of dug earth, already dotted with the rising tips of new-green shoots, and let her gaze trail across the little farm. There was still a faint dusting of feathers here and there, wedged into corners or matted up with the loamy soil, and the uneven gouges that had seen her first enthusiastic attempts at agricultural excavation were still to recover their previous lush grass; but all in all, it was going quite well.

Better than she expected. Better than she _intended_ , really, if she was completely honest with all of herself. Her grip tightened against the fence and she let out a slow breath – and nearly jumped out of her skin as a new voice broke into her contemplative moment.

"That's quite a talent you have there." The tones were smooth, lightly accented in an unfamiliar way, and coming from _above_ her. She swivelled round so quickly that even she nearly fell off the fence, and looked up, squinting against the bright sunlight at the unexpected figure on her roof.

He was sitting – or, more accurately _lounging_ – on the edge of one particularly large split log, one leg propped up on the edge, the other dangling free. Gold glittered in gilt-highlights down the length of him; along edges of the long, dark coat he wore even in this warm afternoon; edging his buckles and the folded tops of his high boots, which were strangely spotless considering the muddy nature of their surroundings. It should have been more difficult to see detail of her sudden visitor, silhouetted as he was against the bright sky, but there was a weird clarity to him, every edge a razor's line, every feature and fold smooth-sharp against her vision.

He was smiling, and that seemed genuine enough – if bordering on smug – but there was an odd gleam in his eyes that set hairs prickling on the back of her neck.

"Well, you know. I love a bit of pumpkin," she replied, shading her eyes, and returned the smile carefully. "Are you one of Sjin's friends?"

The grin widened further and the strange man laughed softly.

"Sometimes." He leaned back, his dark stare sweeping out across the landscape, flicking between the distant buildings of the main farm. "He's amusing himself well enough out here."

"I guess." Nano slid down from her fence, and tried not to look over at the little pile of ruby-edged tools propped up against the wall. The sword was in there somewhere, but she'd barely needed it since they had dealt with the last chicken incident. She shrugged.

"Dunno what else I can tell you. I'm… new. Here," she added carefully, trying to keep her face neutral as she squinted up at the backlit figure again. His expression didn't change; still a faint, knowing smirk, as he leaned a little further forward.

"I'm not."

"O-kay," she replied. "Well – I can tell him you were here? I'm Nano; you are…?"

"Ridgedog." The man tilted his head – not a bow, not even really an acknowledgement, his stare sudden sharp,  _interrogating,_ almost. "But Ridge works."

"Well, Sjin's not – " she started, as much to fill the sudden weighty silence that look seemed to have cast down around her, but Ridge shook his head.

"I already know what Sjin's not. Like I said – that's quite a talent _you've_ got, there."

A small curl of ice began to work its way down Nano's spine. She swallowed, as she offered her brightest smile and tried not to go sharp at the edges.

"Well, I'd dug the holes. Just gotta put some seeds in 'em, and…"

Ridge laughed, and this time there was definitely something weird about the sound. He raised his hands, palms held out flat towards her for a moment – then brought them back down, very suddenly either side of him. The faint sound of impact was… odd, managing to echo more loudly across the open field than it had any right to do, but it was the _effect_ of that contact that was the most surprising.

As his hands hit the wood, the green skin of the lime seemed to wash away, as a wave of rough brown bark swept down the rudimentary house. It only went as far as the base, but Nano jerked back from the changed wall automatically; staring wide-eyed at the at the shifted surface as shock broke up through her mind. She hesitated, but the suspicion tightening against her thoughts was too much to ignore, and she reached out gingerly, letting the tips of her fingers play across the now-dark surface.

It still _felt_ the same; the oak-bark notches slid past under her touch unheeded, as if she was somehow managing to miss the dips and folds in the dark wood, skimming over the smooth lime that had been there a moment before – and, according to her fingertips, still was.

_But – that was…_

She looked up sharply, and the glittering stare above was waiting for her.

"It looks different. But it's not." It sounded stupid, even to her, but she had to be _sure_. Ridge's smile widened a little further.

"Easy enough to do, when you know how. But _knowing_ how – " his eyes narrowed, ever so slightly, but there was interest rather than threat in the expression " – now that's the interesting part."

There was a dark swirl, a snap of fabric against air, as he swung himself off the roof and dropped down beside her, and Nano tried not to recoil as she was suddenly staring the much taller figure right in the waistcoat. More hairs were starting to stand on end down her neck and she was faintly aware of a strange prickle to the air now, a faint electric tingle that seemed to radiate out from the suddenly-close shape and made her skin itch. Ridge reached out, resting one hand elegantly against the apparently-dark woodwork, and tapped his fingertips against the surface.

"Put it back," he said, softly. Responses queued up in Nano's mind – refusal first, followed up so closely with denial that they tangled together at the ends, before she even remembered to _think_ it was impossible.

"I don't – " she started, but the words died again under that terribly-knowing stare, and it seemed remarkably pointless to lie. " – think I can. Like this - " she couldn't stop glancing down at herself, at the slightly-dusty red-silk dress, the trailing ends of her braided hair, and quickly looked back up again. "It's… tiring, I don't – "

Ridge's other hand shot forward, snake-bite fast, and closed around her arm surprisingly gently. His thumb pressed into the soft skin under her wrist – and for a literal-heartbeat it was as if a door had opened, somewhere inside that tiny point of contact, and she couldn't keep down the yelp of shock as the pulse beat across her own. For a that moment, there was just a sense of raw power; white-gold brilliance and a whispering, entangling susurrus – closer than breathing – that sent a crackling surge of _something_ dancing up her arm. She wrenched back, and couldn't repress a sharp hiss as she caught onto her own wrist, wrapping her hand protectively over the mottled purple lines where her careful image had failed under the touch.

"Don't _do that_ ," she growled, flexing her fingers, and tried to steady her face. Ridge stepped back, palms held up flat again, but didn't drop her gaze.

"Just a little recharge. Try it now."

She was vaguely aware that – maybe – she should have been more afraid, but right now, more than anything, she just felt _buzzed_. The moment of weird connection still seemed to spark and dance under her skin, and she realised she was jigging around on the spot slightly. This was mad. It was totally mad. She wasn't supposed to just be _letting on_.

"Well, _fine_ ," she said – quickly, before her nerve could fade – and brought her own flat hand down hard against the wood. There was a sound – _the_ sound, a highest-pitched, shivering moment of noise that rang out like a sharpened pulse. She could feel the shape of it, see through it to the artfully-tangled threads of not-quite illusion twisted about the surface of the wood like an overlay – and before she could even remember the impossibility of what she was doing, she caught onto the imposed texture and pulled it away.

Everything _shifted_ , just a little – and Nano snatched her hand back from the house, breathing heavily. Little motes of exertion danced in front of her eyes; she could feel her own skin settling back again as she stepped aside, and looked back at Ridge's face. He reached out and ran his own hand, very carefully, down the limewood surface, and the grin wound back up his features.

"Quite a talent indeed."

"What do you _want?_ " Nano ducked aside, finally snatching up the red-blade sword, and held it out in front of her for all the good that would do. Her hands were shaking slightly, and she couldn't quite push away a few remaining traceries of purple veins still sketched across the back of her fingers. "Who _are_ you?"

A fresh smile poured across Ridge's face, alarmingly wide, and dark mischief glittered in his eyes as he began to rise slowly into the air – casually, as if the ground had simply lost interest in his presence.

"I want to see what you can _really_ do." He leaned forwards, extending one hand down towards her and she watched – half-hypnotised – as the sunlight reflected bloody patterns from her sword, curling across his brocade-cuffed wrist. "Given the right Opportunity."

"I have – I have things to do here…" she managed, but the words were faint even to her, as she felt her fingers loosening against the sword hilt, half-bidden. Ridge raised one sculpted brow.

"It won't take long. Not _here_ , anyway, if we're being technical."

Nano gave up. Sometimes, you just really _had_ to see what would happen. Ridge grinned, and it was dreadful and delighted, all at once.

"So, Nano. Would you like to play a game?"

-


End file.
